First Debate: "Obama Lost any Chance he had of getting my Vote"
http://acuteobservations.wordpress.com/2008/09/27/how-senator-obama-lost-the-first-debate/
Senator Obama lost any chance he had of getting my vote during the primary season, so it’s possible that even though I’m trying to be fair here, there’s a bias. At least I’m honest about it. Ask the press to tell you the same thing.
...the real killer was Senator Obama’s seeming desire to spend spend spend. He wasn’t willing to cut anything out - including the massive-cost healthcare socialization - and was against Senator McCain’s proposal to freeze most government spending. Sorry, right now the public cares about government waste and doesn’t want to hear about more spending. You can’t admit that income will be down, but refuse to talk about cuts in spending and push your plans to spend more… Not if you want to be president anyway.
...Yes, Senator Obama did better on the economy than he did on national defense, but the whole “and socialize medicine” thing isn’t going to sit well with voters when the economy is slowing, perhaps even shrinking.
http://acuteobservations.wordpress.com/2008/09/27/how-senator-obama-lost-the-first-debate/
How Senator Obama Lost the First Debate
September 27, 2008
He Says…
I haven’t bothered to check out the analysis of the first debate yet, I watched the debate, and formed my own opinion. No doubt there are a lot of people out there trying to proclaim their candidate won - trying to convince you or themselves, doesn’t really matter which.
In fairness, Senator Obama lost any chance he had of getting my vote during the primary season, so it’s possible that even though I’m trying to be fair here, there’s a bias. At least I’m honest about it. Ask the press to tell you the same thing.
First off, both candidates need votes. They have to be sensitive to the desires and sensibilities of even small numbers of potential voters. Senator Obama spent the first half of the debate calling Senator McCain “John”. While I’m certain that they are on a first name basis when working together in the senate, this was a presidential debate, not a meeting of the boy’s club at his prep school. And people noticed.
Second off - and I hate that this is true but it is - his choice of pronunciation of Pakistan was poor. He sounded like he was from the region. Since there are a lot of people who (wrongly) assume he’s Islamic, this slip just feeds that belief and may cost him votes.
Enough of the little things that may mean a lot. What about the substance?
Senator Obama seemed to want to prove that he was Senator McCain’s equal in military matters. He shouldn’t have tried. Debating with a former PoW when you never even served is guaranteed to fail. I’m not saying he shouldn’t have an opinion, I’m saying he should have let those topics come and go, rather than keep going back at it. He wasted time that he could have spent talking on topics he is stronger in than Senator McCain. Particularly poor was the execution of the “I have a bracelet too” moment. That fumble for the soldier’s name made him look disingenuous. It seemed to be well planned, but it was poorly done.
But the real killer was Senator Obama’s seeming desire to spend spend spend. He wasn’t willing to cut anything out - including the massive-cost healthcare socialization - and was against Senator McCain’s proposal to freeze most government spending. Sorry, right now the public cares about government waste and doesn’t want to hear about more spending. You can’t admit that income will be down, but refuse to talk about cuts in spending and push your plans to spend more… Not if you want to be president anyway.
Senator McCain made some slips too - I was amazed that he didn’t take the opening when Senator Obama rambled about what must be done and didn’t answer how he’d do things differently because of the state of the economy. Had McCain been on the ball he would have jumped on that, but he gave an equally vacuous answer. Finally McCain said something of substance, but neither of them admitted they’d cut programs from their platform, and whomever wins most certainly will have to.
Yes, Senator Obama did better on the economy than he did on national defense, but the whole “and socialize medicine” thing isn’t going to sit well with voters when the economy is slowing, perhaps even shrinking.
I’m looking forward to the Vice Presidential debates, they promise to be just as lively.
posted by Fred Martinez @ 1:14 PM
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